"Take a Chance" Embroidery & TAST

I have had another very productive long weekend away at our proposed new home site, and my sofa currently looks like this with loads of different house plans and ideas that we are "trying on" for size. I've got to make sure I can fit everyone and everything in. 

It's a very exciting time (but I'm sure it will get more stressful the closer we get to the actual build). At the moment we are in designing mode, and I'm in my element there.

Wahooo......... I have actually managed to get some TAST stitches done on my 

CHANCE Embroidery this week.

The pale pink at the bottom is the Bullion Buttonhole Stitch.

(sorry the pic is a bit blurred)

Some Buttonhole Wheels in a variegated pink/green thread.

This next one is a funny little stitch called the Crested Chain Stitch.

It is meant to have a nice braided effect when worked evenly, but my 'roll of the DICE' called for "irregular stitch", and so I ended up with a happy frilly looking thing. I love how I don't have control over what I stitch on this project. I get so many lovely surprises along the way.

And here is another TAST stitch called Slipped Detached Chain Stitch.

(I think it looks like a row of palm trees on a desert island)

And a photo of the whole of this Chance piece so far, with "roll of the dice" telling me to use: lace, wool, braiding, irregular stitch, couching, and some other things as well that are yet to be applied to this piece.

Ok, back to the drawing board for me now.

Happy Stitching

My Free Form Embroidery of CHANCE Project Update

Just a little bit more stitching (and playing) done on my CHANCE project.

Random choices made by the throw of the dice.

You may have seen the purple stitched circle before, as that was a previous CHANCE stitching. This weeks throws of the dice asked for "circle", "applique", "zig-zag", "ribbon embellishment", and "the number 3" amongst other things. 

This is what has randomly happened so far:

This is not finished yet. Lots more randome 'stuff' to happen yet.

If you missed how this project started I will recap a little bit here (to remind myself too).

____________

(Recap)

This project is called: "An Embroidery of CHANCE"

My 2013 TAST EMBROIDERY project commences with 3 DICE and a coin-toss

(or is 'die' the correct plural for dice?) 

It will be a true Embroidery of Chance and I am expecting to have a lot of fun along the way.

And to quote my previous post about this project -

CHANCE will determine every aspect of embroidery.
I will take whatever TAST stitch occurs each week - that is the first RANDOM aspect to happen that I have no control over.
And then.......every placement, every thread, every fiber, every stitch, every characteristic, every style - will be taken by chance, and will be innovative, fresh and contemporary.

This project will be FREE FORM embroidery. No plan, no design, no barriers, no idea what is coming up next.

There is also NO finished item planned. The stitching IS the project. '

______________

(end of recap)

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Happy Stitching

About Housework & Stitching

Stitching or Housework?

It's a dilemma, I know. 

Yes I am guilty of letting the housework lapse because

 I just HAVE to finish.....  >enter your project here<

.......this crazy quilt block
.....or that embroidered part on the 'other' project
.....or another couple of rows of crochet
.....or read another chapter or two of this gripping novel

I digress.

Over the weekend I have suddenly that discovered that not only do I need to be in the right frame of mind for stitching, I actually NEED to be in the right physical place as well. 

Is that weird?

This is how I found that eureka moment.

My hubby has suffered with back problems for quite a few years. 

Late last year he discovered that sitting on MY arm chair helped ease his back pain, and so he claimed my chair as his.

I don't mind giving up my chair at all, anything to ease his pain is ok with me.

But this weekend, while I was doing the housework, I changed all the chairs around so that my, new chair, is where my old one was by the French window, which is where he has been sitting ever since taking over my good chair.

What a remarkable difference it has made to my stitching in just a few days. I am back to being enthusiastic about it and have a much clearer idea of what I want to stitch (I have been in a bit of a muddle this year over stitching). I hadn't realized that moving to another chair in another part of the lounge room had dulled a part of my stitching enthusiasm.

So, since my spring cleaning  housework on Sunday, and changing the furniture around, here are some stitching progress photos.

My CHANCE project - Free Form at it's finest

The roll of a dice, and toss of a coin, choose what I do, what colour I use, what shape it is, and where it goes.

I was meant to be using the TAST stitches for this, but have not incorporate them in these pieces......yet.

Chance #2

Chance #3 

Chance #4 

The Stained Glass Rose Window is double what it was last week.

I now have six 'bits' sewn up, which is a half of the complete Rose window shape.

I have also been crocheting for the IFFCG challenge. A project that is to be completed sometime in May, but must not be shown online until the final show is published.

I will share that piece when THE SHOW goes public.

Happy Stitching

A mixture of sewing projects

 Embroidery of Chance 

I started with a velvet square in a dusky pink colour.

 Added random wool tops with needle-felting just to add a bit of colour to start with.

Then, using the TAST stitches and a dice roll #5 for which box of threads I will use.

A coin toss gives me Regular or Irregular stitching.

Other rolls of the dice give me - Design Shape, Line Design, and Decoration or Embellishments for the whole piece.

Knotted Feather Stitch - Irregular, curved

Inverted Feather Stitch - Regular, haphazard

Raised Herringbone Band - Regular, triangle, vertical

The CHANCE part is working out fine so far. I think I might change the way the threads are randomly chosen though as I wasn't too pleased with the bright green on the back of the raised herringbone band. The best way to get a cohesive colourway would probably be to choose perhaps a dozen or so threads that would actually look good on the background, and then have the dice choose which one to use next.

I will PLAY with that idea on the next roll of the dice.

 Ear Ear Project 

The soft spongy ear-pads on my headphones disintegrated two weeks ago and it's a bit painful trying to use them without the soft pad, so here is my solution to that problem.

I am very pleased with the result. Rather snazzy I think.

 My Mum's Steam Engine Cross Stitch 

Here are the photo's of the large cross-stitch project that my mum started but had to give up on due to failing eye-sight.

As mentioned on a previous post, I shall be finishing the last 3 carriages in her memory.

The whole thing when finished is 1.6 metres long (yes, over one and a half metres) and about 200mm high.

That is quite a large cross stitch panel.

I'm not sure when I will have time this year, but it is on my TO-DO list.

 Learning Lace Making 

This is the treasured lace-making equipment I have.

All of this was my mums, and I have inherited quite a few of her books on the subject as well.

The domed cushion for pinning the projects.

Her best bobbins in her custom made case for them.

A collection of her other bobbins in another case she made.

A few of her special pyrography bobbins.

And a pair of very special bobbins in a box.

Well that's it for this week's show-and-tell.

Hope you enjoyed the eye-candy.

Happy Stitching